In the Mood for Love
by BaronessBlixen
Summary: Amy's dubious Saudi-Arabian fiancé finds out about Sheldon and is desperate to take back what belongs to him. Primary pairing Sheldon/Penny. More info inside.
1. Chapter 1

TITLE: In the Mood for Love

PAIRING: Sheldon/Amy/Penny/Leonard/OMC(Faisal)

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.

SUMMARY: Amy's dubious Saudi-Arabian fiancé finds out about Sheldon and is desperate to take back what belongs to him.

NOTES: This is a work in progress – if anyone is interested in this story. Please do tell me! I wasn't sure about the spelling of Faisal and just went with it. The inspiration comes from a couple of Shenny fans on twitter – and this is for them and all of you who never give up on our pairing.

* * *

"Bestie, I find myself in a precarious situation." Amy just enters Penny's apartment, not even waiting to be invited inside. Naturally, Penny doesn't mind, but it's not like Amy to just ignore social protocol like that. She puts her nail polish away for the moment – that wonderful night blue she's found earlier today. Amy is more important at the moment and Sheldon has taught her to concentrate on one thing at a time. She would never tell him, but she tries to act on some of his suggestions. Some of them make sense.

"What happened?" If it were anyone else, Penny would be able to think of several "precarious" situations. Like an unplanned pregnancy, or a fling, or bedroom problems. The only bedroom problem Sheldon and Amy have is that they don't have one. Unless...

"Something has come up. Or should I say someone?" Amy makes this little noise that Penny has long since identified as a giggle.

"You've lost me Amy? Start at the beginning." This earns her a blank look from Amy.

"Well, who has come up? Is it about Sheldon?" Penny thinks about Sheldon finally becoming a man. In the biblical, literal – hell, bedroom – sense. Suddenly she is not sure she even wants to know.

"Not primarily. He has to be considered and informed as well, certainly."

"Amy!"

"Yes, Penny?"

"If you want me to help you, I need to know what's going on!"

"I thought I was telling you." Sometimes Penny thinks if Amy and Sheldon were ever to procreate, their child would not be able to communicate with the likes of her, or anyone else with a normal IQ, at all. Then again, there are many other reasons why she doesn't think of their possible future offspring. Reasons she is not quite ready to admit, even to herself.

"Come on, sit down and tell Penny everything." She pats the spot next to her with a smile. Amy sits down – almost too close, but Penny thinks she's gotten used to it by now.

"Do you remember Faisal?"

"Noooooo?"

"Faisal, my prince," again with the weird chuckle, "The prince from Saudi-Arabia, who funded my lab."

"And?" Penny doesn't remember. At all.

"We were engaged."

"You were WHAT?" Penny screams, "Does Sheldon know?"

"Of course I told him. We were engaged before I even knew Sheldon. And I told him before we started dating."

"Then what is the problem?"

"Faisal found out about Sheldon and me." Penny just stares at Amy.

"To him we're still engaged."

"Oh...OH! Why would he think that?"

"We never exactly broke it off. What shall I do now, bestie?"

"Have you told Sheldon?"

"No, I figured you had far more expertise in this particular area." Penny feels honored in a way and it is the truth after all.

"So, umh, what did this Faisal guy say anyway? I mean what does he care?"

"He's coming to Pasadena." Amy tells her. "He says he wants to meet the man who stole his woman. I must admit the idea of them fighting arouses me." All Penny feels is her stomach clench. She knows Sheldon and his dubious degree of strength. Not to say he doesn't have any, but she is certain he has less than a Saudi-Arabian prince. Who probably also has several bodyguards and the like. She would have to be Sheldon's bodyguard. The thought almost makes her smile.

"You have to tell Sheldon. And then you probably have to flee the state. Why did you never break it off?"

"I wanted to have options. It is my right as a modern woman." Amy shrugs. Penny actually feels pity for Sheldon. As much as he can annoy her sometimes, he can also be very sweet. He just needs someone to shove him into the real world from time to time. Sometimes Penny wonders if Amy is indeed the right woman for Sheldon. Over time she's become attached to him – and all the guys actually – so she feels protective over him. As much as she loves Amy, she needs to look out for her boys, too.

"Does Sheldon know that?"

"Of course not. I was under the impression women keep these things from their boyfriends."

"They do..." Penny has to admit. Still, it gives her a queasy feeling, because it is Sheldon. This is his first serious relationship. Or his first relationship, period. Somehow she can't believe he would be so lax about it; she hasn't read the relationship agreement Sheldon has drawn up, but Amy has mentioned it a couple of times.

"What should I do now, bestie?" There is the slightest hint of concern in Amy's voice and that is enough to warm Penny's heart. She knew from the start she would have to help these two. She just didn't think it would make her feel this uncomfortable. She loves match-making, but suddenly The Shamy doesn't seem so hot to her anymore. It was fine when it was a possibility, a figment. Now when it's so very real it unnerves her. Even if she wouldn't tell anyone about it. Except sometimes she whispers it into empty liquor bottles right before she passes out. She tries to not even think about these nights though.

"You need to talk to Sheldon." Both women sigh.

"Will you help me?" Amy is suddenly like a child, like a baby sister to Penny. A sister who needs her help. She gnaws her lip, pondering the request. She should say no. She should stay out of this relationship.

"Of course." She finds herself answering in spite of everything.

Amy hugs her quickly and smiles. This is going to be interesting.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you all for the reviews! Please do keep them coming!

* * *

The moment Penny and Amy walk into the boys' apartment, Leonard knows they mean trouble. He almost lets his Xbox controller fall down. Sheldon never even notices the two women in the door.

"We need to talk to Sheldon." Penny tells Leonard, who suddenly feels like he's back in high school. Or college. All those places he never fit in and where women sent him away, because they wanted to talk to the cool guy without being ogled. When did Sheldon become the cool guy though? Leonard looks over at his roommate, who is so engrossed in his work that he couldn't care less for the real world around him. Yes, it is still like high school. Sighing, Leonard puts the controller away and feeling depressed, leaves the three of them alone. The sound of the door closing rather sharply lets Sheldon turn around and face Amy and Penny. They stand there like a wall. A unit.

"I was beginning to think we were invisible." Penny says.

"Don't flatter yourself. Where would the likes of you get a hold of such an innovative technology? I just didn't care you entered."

"Now you do?" Penny crosses her arms in front of her chest. Why did she think Sheldon needed pampering? Why not just throw the news at him and not care for his feelings? It's right then that Penny notices how Amy just stands next to her, trembling, not saying a word. She didn't think she would be this nervous.

"Leonard left." Sheldon shrugs. "You most likely won't follow his example unless I listen to whatever nonsense you want to tell me."

"Thank you, Sheldon." Penny tells him in a mock voice. She nudges Amy, hoping for her to take over. This is her problem after all. Penny is just here for moral support. Sheldon alternates his looks between the two women, confused.

"Amy wants to tell you something." Penny eventually says when she can't take it anymore.

"I would prefer if you told him." Amy replies, not looking at her boyfriend, but at Penny. Her eyes are enlarged by her glasses and she even manages to put on a puppy-like expression. That is just too much for Penny.

"Damn it! Sheldon, Amy is still engaged to this bio-prince and he wants to duel you to get her back. Discuss." She is just about to leave, when Amy grabs her hand. It's sweaty. As if anyone could ever be afraid of Sheldon, Penny thinks. Yet, she stays.

"Faisal?" Sheldon asks, looking at the two women. Amy is as mute as Raj.

"Yes, Faisal." Penny again answers for her, feeling stupid.

"Amy, did Faisal ever draw up a contract?" Now that she's been directly addressed, she has to answer.

"He told me to marry him and I said yes." Sheldon nods to himself.

"Ergo you entered a verbal contract. I'm afraid this settles it then. We will have to terminate our relationship."

"What?" Penny screams. Amy is shaking next to her, looking at the ground. This can't be it.

"You can't be serious!"

"Penny, a contract is a contract."

"Love is not a contract!" Penny realizes too late this might be the wrong thing to say, but she's not as much in her head as her two friends. She doesn't think everything through. Occasionally, she screws up. Apparently, she just did. Amy is frozen next to her. Sheldon is nervous; he is worse than she's ever seen him. His eyes twitch as well as his mouth. They've never talked about love, she realizes. These two could talk about any scientific phenomenon in the world, but not their own feelings. They probably don't even know what they feel.

"I mean if you care for someone, you don't give them up. Just because of a contract. And it's not like Amy ever signed anything! You didn't, did you?"

"No." Amy admits.

"See? You're not just going to let some guy steal your girl away, now are you?" Sheldon looks at her. And keeps looking at her. For a moment Penny forgets why she's even here. Why she's talking to Sheldon and that Amy stands there next to her. Because of the way he's looking at her. As if he's trying to tell her it's already happened.

"No." He tells her, but only her. His eyes are still glued to hers and Penny feels fidgety in a way that makes her very uncomfortable. Sheldon is not one to answer monosyllabically.

"See, Amy? It's going to be fine." So it's Penny who tears her eyes away. But even though she's looking at Amy now, Sheldon's eyes are still in front of her. Like the stars you see after you've looked into the sun too long. Penny wonders what Sheldon would tell her if she told him. She wonders about the correct scientific term. One day, she thinks, she has to ask him about it.

"When are you expecting Faisal, Amy?" Sheldon wants to know. Amy takes out her cell phone and quickly checks her messages.

"Friday morning, 9.23am. He expects me to pick him up."

"That's tomorrow!" Sheldon almost screams. Penny can see in his face that this sudden disruption of his schedule doesn't agree with him at all.

"You won't pick him up," Penny interferes, "Sheldon and I will go." This ought to distract him.

"I don't see why that would be a good idea." Sheldon exclaims.

"Because if he's got Amy in a car at the airport, where do you think he's going? No, we're going to pick him up. We don't have to tell him right away who you are. What have you told him about Sheldon, Amy?" Now the couple actually exchanges a look; Sheldon is obviously curious and Amy is obviously uncomfortable.

"I merely told him he was a brilliant scientist." Naturally, Sheldon nods at her words.

"He's never seen a picture, or anything?"

"No, of course not. He is not on facebook and I haven't shown him any pictures. We haven't conversed much since Sheldon and I started dating."

"Well, we might be able to make this work after all." Penny tells them.

"Do you have a plan?" Amy asks in a hopeful voice.

"Sure." She answers vaguely.

She is almost sure that Sheldon knows she's lying.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry it took so long. Somehow I couldn't remember where I wanted to go with this story. So I waited a day, and another one, and finally this chapter came to be. Please do review! And enjoy.

* * *

Amy is clearly reluctant to leave Penny's apartment. Most of her toes are still waiting to be painted night-blue. She sighs.

"Are you ok?" Amy immediately asks.

"Yeah. I just remembered hm, I wasn't done painting my nails. It doesn't matter though."

This seems to be a good enough answer for Amy. She leans back into the couch and silently stares ahead. Suddenly, Penny wonders if this is what Leonard feels like with Sheldon sometimes. When people just don't get what you're telling them non-verbally. In that way Sheldon and Amy are definitely similar. Annoying their best friends.

"But I should probably go to sleep. I mean Sheldon and I have to be at the airport quiet early." Amy just nods.

"Do you want to stay here?" Penny asks. It's not meant as an invitation, but the moment Amy turns to her she can see in her eyes that this is exactly what she's heard. Great.

"Thank you, bestie!" In one quick motion, Amy is on her feet and on her way into Penny's bedroom. Following her with much less enthusiasm, Penny wonders how she ever got into this mess and when. Right, five years ago she met these two scientists from across the hall... she closes the bedroom door behind her and hopes Amy won't bite her tonight.

* * *

Sheldon, as always, is on time. If he's at all surprised that Amy is at Penny's apartment, he doesn't show it. All he does is complain about having to go pick up Faisal. Penny, who hasn't slept much thanks to Amy's nightly terrors, is already on edge.

"Sheldon, would you please stop talking until the sun has come up?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Well, then you know what normal people feel like once you're talking. Let's go before I change my mind. Amy, you're going to stay here?"

"No. I thought I would visit with Leonard. I understand he goes into work late this week." Sheldon merely nods. How anyone is supposed to believe those two are a couple is a mystery to Penny. She wonders what Faisal will think of them. Already, she feels protective of Sheldon. He might believe otherwise, but in comparison with other men he often comes off second best. Then again as she looks at him he is not bad to look at – if you don't know him. As soon as you do all you get is jibber-jabber.

"Penny?" Sheldon is staring at her with big eyes as if he's been trying to catch her attention for a while now.

"We have to get going. Traffic is going to be bad enough as it is. I have printed out several routes to choose from."

"That sounds like fun." Penny says with little zeal as they're walking down the stairs.

"I understand this is not supposed to be fun." There is something in Sheldon's voice she is unsure how to interpret. Now is not the time to ask what he means. They're on a mission.

"I told you route four would have been the fastest."

"Would you please be quiet, Sheldon?" Penny is hot. She is tired and Sheldon is just Sheldon. Sitting there in his two shirts – how is this even possible when Penny already feels like melting in her top? –looking out the window, staring at the immobile lines of cars there. Naturally, Penny picked the wrong route. Sheldon gave her four routes to choose from. She picked number two, because as she explained to him they were two people, so it made sense.

"You didn't mind this route when I picked it!" Sheldon stays quiet, probably because he knows she's right. For a moment this amuses Penny. Too soon she remembers where they are and that their car is not moving. They still have enough time to arrive at the airport in time. Still, being locked in a car with Sheldon is not necessarily Penny's idea of fun.

"I repeat: I told you route four would be the fastest."

"Yeah, well you're not driving the car." She hisses.

"Aren't you hot? I'm so hot? How is it this hot this early?" Penny complains and rolls down the window.

"Close the window, you're only letting more heat in."

"But I'm hot, Sheldon!" To her surprise, there is a blush around Sheldon's nose and on his cheek. Fascinating - to think in Sheldon's terms.

"Well, don't complain later." He only mumbles. And then he is actually silent. They're not listening to the radio, because Sheldon doesn't care enough and whenever she picks a station, his little "eh" ticks her off. So she is almost used to not having the radio on when Sheldon's with her in the car. But usually, he is talking. Sometimes they're playing one of his weird little games she hardly understands and that are more for his benefit than for hers. Other times he explains things to her she has no idea about whatsoever. He never seems to mind and after a while Penny has grown to enjoy Sheldon's lectures. When he talks without fearing to be interrupted, his voice takes on a deeper sound. Penny thinks he would be perfect to talk her into sleep at night. Not that she would ever tell him.

"Sheldon, I need to ask you something."

"You know I encourage you to ask as many questions as possible." Penny is not sure she should be doing this; she wants to know what Sheldon feels for Amy. Something is bothering him, she is sure of it. Otherwise he wouldn't be this silent. There is no other way to find out but ask him. And what else could be bothering him than this whole situation with Amy and Faisal?

"Umh, what are your thoughts on this whole situation?" Now Sheldon turns away from the window to look at Penny.

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"I mean – you didn't seem to be bothered by it. Amy is your girlfriend, isn't she?"

"As per our Relationship Agreement she certainly is."

"Aren't you at all jealous?" Penny wonders. He was more jealous when Amy went out with Stuart. Then, too, he didn't want to admit it. When he doesn't answer right away, Penny takes this as a sign that he actually is.

"You need to show her, Sheldon! Women want to feel wanted from time to time, you know."

"They're moving."

"What?" Penny asks, slightly confused.

"The cars in front of us." Sheldon answers shortly, pointing at the moving cars. Behind them, a car honks angrily. Penny starts the car and slowly follows the line. Cooler air blows through the open window and messes up Penny's hair, but the wind against her face and neck feels wonderful. Only when they have to stop again at a red light does she notice Sheldon looking over at her.

"I'm not jealous." He tells her. If it were anyone else than him, Penny would consider this a lie. But not Sheldon. There's no twitching. There's no looking away. His eyes are locked on hers as if trying to make her realize something. Something she once again just doesn't understand. Another honk from behind and Penny startles. Her eyes focus on the road again for a moment.

"Are you and Leonard dating again?" Sheldon drops the question like a bomb and Penny opens her mouth to answer, but no words come out. She turns to him, open-mouthed.

"I need a verbal answer, I'm afraid."

"Why would you think we were dating again?" That date. That date she was so unsure about. Hindsight is 20/20 and next time she is going to listen to her guts and not go on a date with Leonard. Not again. Why Sheldon suddenly cares about her and Leonard, she doesn't know.

"He asked you out for a date and you said yes."

"That doesn't mean we're dating." Penny is glad the road ahead is clearer now, so she can focus on driving.

"When I asked you out on a date you said no." Again, Penny is taken aback; was he actually serious when he asked her? Never once did she think he was. He only meant to make Amy jealous – wasn't he?

"You mean... you were serious?" She just can't believe it. Just like she can't believe the quick fluttering of her heart.

"It seems that dating is like driving a car." Sheldon answers.

"What?"

"I haven't quite figured it out yet, I'm afraid." Admitting that, Penny thinks, is a step in the right direction.

He hasn't answered her question and Penny doesn't think she has it in herself to ask him again. Not now anyway. She grips the steering wheel as if it were an anchor and listens to the silence. Hoping that Sheldon can't hear the quickened beating of her heart. Or read her thoughts.

"And just so you know – Leonard and me, we're not dating again. I don't think we ever will again."

She might just imagine it, but the silence suddenly seems more comfortable. At least Penny feels as if something has been lifted off of her.

"Alright." Sheldon replies after what seems like a long, long time.

For some reason this makes Penny smile.

TBC


End file.
